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  • Election Reforms: Falling short

    WASHINGTON — Proponents of progressive election reform gave cautious approval to the recent report issued by a commission assigned to investigate the improvement of federal elections. Many critics, however, point to several obstacles that remain in the way of free and fair elections throughout the United States. The report, issued by the National Commission on Federal Election Reform headed by former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford, was presented to President Bush. Among its recommendations are provisions regarding increases in equipment standards and stepped-up federal funding for the administration of elections.

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  • Son of Star Wars: Another arms race?

    WASHINGTON — Reports emerging from the Pentagon about plans to test a “Space Bomber” are drawing accusations that the U.S. government is attempting to engage in another arms race. The bomber, a spacecraft reportedly capable of destroying targets on the other side of the globe within 30 minutes, is a key component of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s plan to modernize U.S. weaponry. The satellite is currently under production by NASA and Lockheed Martin, a leading military contractor. Pentagon claims that the bomber can cause greater and deeper ground damage from a virtually unassailable height have many critics questioning it as…

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  • ExxonMobil: Facing a boycott

    ExxonMobil, one of the biggest corporations on the planet, is now facing a boycott spearheaded by activist groups protesting the company’s policies at home and abroad. The boycott was launched by PressurePoint, a grassroots organization looking to “take real action on climate change and corporate influence,” according to Chris Doran, campaigns director for the group. “The U.S. government’s climate change policy is the ExxonMobil policy,” Doran says. “What sort of democracy do we have when one company can buy off our political process for its own gains?” ExxonMobil is a charter member of the Global Climate Coalition, an influential industry…

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  • Beyond the Ford-Firestone Uproar: Critics blast lack of regulation, accountability in SUV safety

    WASHINGTON – Recent congressional hearings probed the accountability of Ford and Firestone in many incidents where car or tire malfunctioned, causing injury or death. The hearings also questioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the federal government’s chief regulator of automobile safety, and its role in providing the public with adequate information. While the blame-placing among corporate executives and congressional subcommittees occurred on Capitol Hill, several analysts decried the lack of accountability being demanded of the corporations involved. Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen, pointed to a lack of regulation of sport utility vehicles and rollover standards.

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  • NEWS BRIEFING WITH LAWRENCE SUMMERS, SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY RAYMOND OFFENHEISER, PRESIDENT, OXFAM

    Questions from IPA appear below in bold HEADLINE: NEWS BRIEFING WITH LAWRENCE SUMMERS, SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY RAYMOND OFFENHEISER, PRESIDENT, OXFAM DEBT RELIEF TO POOR COUNTRIES AND OXFAM EDUCATION NOW AWARD INTRODUCTION: MARTA ARIAS LOCATION: NATIONAL PRESS CLUB, WASHINGTON D.C. BODY:

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  • Ten Real Reasons To Impeach Clinton

    We all seem to have lost our sense of proportion. Why are the political leaders of the United States and the major media talking of impeaching Bill Clinton for lies about sex, surely not the most important sins of his administration? If Clinton is to be impeached, why do it for frivolous reasons? I can think of at least ten reasons to impeach him, for acts far more serious than his dalliance with Monica Lewinsky or his lies to Kenneth Starr. I am speaking of matters of life and death for large numbers of people. 1. Clinton approved, very early…

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  • Autopsy Of A Disaster: The U.S. Sanctions Policy On Iraq

    For a shorter version of this timeline, click here. Myth: The Sanctions Will be Lifted When Iraq Complies with the U.N. Inspections April 3, 1991: U.N. Security Council passes Resolution 687 which states that upon “the completion by Iraq of all actions contemplated in” specific paragraphs of the resolution, “the prohibitions against financial transactions … shall have no further force or effect.” The paragraphs cited have to do with weapons inspections. Other paragraphs in the resolution have to do with “return of all Kuwaiti property seized by Iraq” and Iraqi liability for losses and damage resulting from Iraq’s occupation of…

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  • Libya and War Powers

    ROBERT NAIMAN Naiman is policy director of Just Foreign Policy. He just wrote the piece “Congress Must Debate the Libya War,” which states: “To put it crudely: as a matter of logic, if President Obama can bomb Libya without Congressional authorization, then President Palin can bomb Iran without Congressional authorization. If, God forbid, we ever…

  • Egypt: Army Still Torturing People a “Red Line”

    Dr. AIDA SEIF AL-DAWLA, Dr. MOSTAFA HUSSEIN, @moftasa Al-Dawla is with the Nadeem Center for Victims of Torture. She is a psychiatrist. Hussein is a doctor at the Task Force Against Torture, which brings together non-profits, bloggers and activists highlighting the continuation of torture in post-Mubarak Egypt on the new webpage against-torture.net. Hussein said today:…

  • Tipping Point in Yemen?

    CNN is reporting: “Three top generals in Yemen declared their support for anti-government protests Monday as a wave of officials, including the deputy speaker of parliament, announced their resignations. … The ambassadors to Pakistan, Qatar, Oman, Spain and the consul general in Dubai announced their resignations together later on Monday. The envoys to China, Saudi…

  • Afghan Women’s Rights Advocate Barred from U.S.

    The U.S. government has denied a travel visa to Malalai Joya, an acclaimed women’s rights activist and former member of Afghanistan’s parliament, said organizers of her U.S. tour. Joya, who was named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world in 2010, was set to begin a three-week U.S. tour to promote…

  • Declaration of War on Libya?

    PHYLLIS BENNIS A fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, Bennis is author of Calling the Shots: How Washington Dominates Today’s UN. She said today: “Libya’s opposition movement faces a ruthless military assault. They have already paid a far higher price in lost and broken lives than activists in any of the other democratic uprisings…

  • Backing Nuclear: Administration “Disconnected from Reality”

    Bloomberg reports today: “The Obama administration will press ahead with efforts to expand loan guarantees for new nuclear reactors while investigating the failure of Japan’s power plants after an earthquake, Energy Secretary Steven Chu said.” NORMAN SOLOMON Available for a limited number of interviews, Solomon is president of the Institute for Public Accuracy and a…

  • Haiti: “Would Kill Aristide” Says Presidential Candidate Martelly in Video

    MARK WEISBROT, via Dan Beeton Co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, Weisbrot has been been involved in Haiti policy work for over 20 years. He has co-authored two papers analyzing the outcome of the first round of Haiti’s elections and several op-eds and columns on the elections and Aristide’s return. He said…

  • St. Patrick’s Day and the Irish Famine

    CHRISTINE KINEALY Kinealy is author of “This Great Calamity: The Irish Famine 1845-52” and other books on Irish history. She is professor of history at Drew University in New Jersey and just returned from Ireland on Tuesday. She said today: “In 1997, the New York St. Patrick’s Day parade honoured the victims of Ireland’s Great…

  • The U.S. and Egyptian Army Are One?

    Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Cairo. RASHA AZAB Azab is spokesperson for the Liberties Committee at the Press Syndicate in Cairo, which is holding a news conference tomorrow on the “hundreds of Egyptians protesting in Tahrir Square who have been subject to detention and torture by members of the army and Republican Guard…

  • Bahrain: Martial Law, Hundreds Wounded

    Reuters reports: “Two men were killed and more than 200 people wounded in clashes in Bahrain on Tuesday, a hospital source said.” Extremely graphic video of Bahraini protester in hospital: youtube.com HUSAIN ABDULLA Abdulla is director of Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain. He said today: “It’s obvious that the Saudi and Bahraini…

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